My return journey as an adult into the world of ballet…

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I’ve Got a Golden Goal

So, I have a goal of starting ballet classes on August 19th when the new season starts. Every time I think about it my heart skips a little beat. This gives me four months to get my body prepared for taking classes. My intention with taking the classes is to continue to lose weight and get my body back into shape but also to do something that I love and that my heart has missed for so many years. It’s a win-win situation for me. Despite all of the other attempts in the past 7-8 years of losing weight, nothing has spoken to me at my core like my desire to start back into dance classes.

From my brief experience of taking some ballet classes a few years ago, I know I need to work on my flexibility, pointing my feet and strengthening my ankles, and better posture. So those are things I can definitely be working on now and get my body prepared for classes. It will also keep my motivation up over the next four months and feel like I have been moving towards my goal.

I first want to take 1-2 classes a week to get my muscles working again. In addition to adult beginner classes, the studio I will be joining also offers open intermediate ballet classes during the day and I hope to have worked myself up to that level soon. I do have an extensive dance background when I danced up until I was 13. I had been en pointe since the age of 9 and had regularly taken advanced and master level classes. So I truly believe with hard work I could be up to 3-4 classes per week within 6 months of starting ballet classes in August. If I need to branch to some other studios in my area to gain the extra classes I am willing to do so.

I also hope to perform again. My studio does a year-end recital and I hope to be a part of it! I miss the lights, nervous excitement, peeking from behind the curtain at the audience and feeling in awe those people came to see us dance! The thought of that definitely gets me motivated for getting healthy and back into shape!

My other deep goal, I so desire, is to get back en pointe. It has been such a motivating force to see other adult beginners getting en pointe that after several years of getting stronger I know I can do that too. I feel like a young girl again dreaming about her first pair of pointe shoes!

After 6 months be conditioned enough to take 3-4 classes per week, one or two of those being intermediate.

Start performing

When ready, start dancing en pointe.

I do want to preface that no one must lose weight or prepare their body for taking ballet classes. That is something I want and need to do nor do I want to try and be as svelte as a prima ballerina. I want what is healthy for my body. I do know that the dance world can be perceived negatively when it comes to body image and I am not going to perpetuate that image. I remember when I was dancing 25 -30 hours a week I was in amazing shape and I had to eat well to have the ability to dance that much. So not all dancers are starving themselves to be skinny. It is highly demanding physical exercise that develops long and lean muscles, which gives you beautiful long body lines.

How exactly am I going to achieve this “Golden Goal”? I have thought long and hard about this and I have a solution that is reasonable and workable. I will put that into my next post!

Below are some studio pictures taken of me at the age of 11. The time has gone by in the blink of an eye!